Grinder



sem. 24, 1940. o. C; smh/um` mm3 GRINDER A Filed June 28, 1939 A 2Sheets-Sheet l' l 0 Llwn Sept 24 1940 o. C. scHMmT 2,216,023

GRINDER Filed June 28, 193e 2 sheds-sheet 2 Patented Sept. 24, 1940Pita? 1 emmen Oscar C. Schmidt, Cincinnati, @hid-assigner to TheCincinnati Butchers Supply Company, Cincinnati, Ohio, a corporation ofOhio Application June 28, 1939, Serial No'. 281,613

8 Claims.

f My invention relates to grinders employing a feed worm and used, forinstance, in the meat industry for grinding meats and for similarpurposes. It is ytheobject of my invention to provide a'grinder of1 thecharacter mentioned of large feeding capacity, and so constructed thatthe meats fed ther'einto will have a continuous forward movement andwill readily have such forlward movement applied thereto when received4into the machine.

"Machines of this character usually comprise a hopper into which thematerial is placed, the

hopper communicating with a meat channel comjprising a tubular portionat the outfeeding end of which Vthere is a perforate plate through whichvthe meat is forced, and in connection with which there isv a' rotarycutter for cutting the meat into small particles, a feed worm beingllocated in the channelfor feeding the meat. The hopper, the channel andthe worm have heretofore been usually so constructed and related thatpositive feeding of the-meat into the channel has been uncertain, withthe result that a retracting movement was imparted to the meat, movingthe meat upward into the hopper, which resulted in danger tothe operatorwho under such circumstances attempted to force the meat toward the wormand into the channel by hand, often resulting in injury to the operatorand giving rise to an unsanitary condition, as in modern meat reducingpractice manual contact of the meat is discountenanced.

I have avoided these objections in my improved device and have providedmeans whereby feeding movement is imparted to the meat to positivelydirectit into the feeding channel, and means 'whereby retractingmovement of the meat is avoided or minimized, and have provided meanswhereby the meat when fed in large chunks is immediately reduced tosmaller pieces as it is being fed into the channel for ready receptioninto the channel and for great capacity in the feeding action.

My invention consists in novel means for accomplishing these objects;further, in a novel `structure of feed worm; and, further, in novelVstructure and arrangement of the walls of the channel coactingtherewith; and the invention will be further readily understood from thefollowing description and claims, and from the drawings, in whichlatter:

Fig. l is a side elevation of my improved device. 1 Fig. 2 is a verticallongitudinal axial section of thersama taken in the plane of the line2,--2 of Fig. 4, partly broken away, and showing the feed worm in sideelevation.

Fig. 3 is a plan view showing'the feeding in portion of the machine,partly broken away.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section of my improved device, 5 taken in the plane ofthe irregular line 4 4 of Fig. 2, and partlybroken away.

Fig. 5 is a cross-section of the same, `taken in the plane of 'theirregular line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig; 6 is a side elevation of the feed worm, partly broken away, thethreads of the worm being completed in dotted lines; and

Fig. 7 is a cross-section of the same, taken on the line l-'l of Fig. 6.

In the present exempliiication' there is a frame Ii provided witha'column l2 and a shelf i3, a sleeve It being secured to the uprightface I5 of the frame, the sleeve having an outer flange I6. Drivingmeans. are shown as an electric motory I1 suitably secured to the shelfand provided with a 20 speed gear reduction` unit i8 terminating in apower delivering shaft I9 having drive connection 20, as a key,` with adriving sleeve 2l journaled in a bearing 22 in the sleeve Hi. Thedriving sleeve 2E is provided with a` power connecting 25 recess 23having a pluri-sided wall forming releasable driving connection with asimilar'cross- Ysectionally formed stub 24 on a feed worm'25.

`worm and ready connection and'disconnection of .40

the drivingconnecton'za between'the power shaft and the feed worm. Theopening 33 forms a mouth for said channel, said mouth having surroundingwalls 35 extending from said` o-pening. The opening or mouth ispreferably elongated lengthwise of the channel. The inner wall of thechannel is preferably provided with inwardlyextending meat contacting.ribs 35, these ribs being abbreviated at the feeding-in mouth` butcontinuing along the infeeding sector 34.

The infeeding end wall 4i of the channel housing is provided with,- aninner rabbet 42, from which a bearing 43 extends, and said housing isprovided` at its in feedin'g end with a iiange 44, which in the'presentexemplication is secured to the flange I6 of the sleeve I4 by means ofsuitable studs and nuts 45 for clamping said housing in outwardlyprojecting relation to the frame.

A suitable hopper 48 is provided for the mouth of the feeding channel,and is shown pivoted at its respective sides to the feeding housing onpivot pins 48, either of which may be released for swinging the hopperin opposite directions, these pivot pins being located in lugs 50, 5I,extending respectively from the housing and the hopper. Links 52, 53 arepivoted together on a pivot pin 54 at one of their ends, the other endsbeing pivoted respectively to the housing by a pivot pin 55 and to thehopper by a pivot pin 56, to limit opening movement of the hopper ineither direction.

The feed worm 25 is rotatable in the channel. It is provided at itsinfeeding end with an annular flange 6l received in the rabbet 42, witha journal stub 62 located in the bearing 43 and with the driveconnecting stub 24. The feed worm is at its outfeeding end provided witha stub 63 secured to said outer end and having an inner clutch section64 about which a usual knife structure 65 is located so as to rotatewith the worm, and an outer journal section 66 rotatable in a bearing 61of a usual perforated knife plate 68 stationarily located in an annularrabbet 69 at the outer end of the tubular feed section, and held inplace by a usual clamp nut 10.

The feed worm comprises aninitial or infeeding section 14, anintermediate feeding section 15, and a delivering feeding section 16 todeliver the meat being fed into coaction with the rotary knife and theperforated feed plate. In order to provide for maximum feeding capacityand to cut chunks of meat beingfed into smaller pieces for ready feedingof the same, Ihave provided a feed worm of novel construction in whichthe infeeding section has a maximum space 11 between its base 18 and theopposed portion 19 of the concentric wall of the infeeding sector of thefeed channel, so as to provide great width of space between suchportions of said worm and said wall in order to readily receive largechunks of meat, and I have provided the outer peripheries of suchportions of the feed worm with a knife edge to act upon the chunks ofmeat, the knife edge coacting with the wallrof the infeeding lsector fordividing the meat chunks and reducing the meat into smaller pieces forready feeding of the meat lengthwise of the feeding channel.

This infeeding section of the feed worm preferably has a singleconvolution, the pitch whereof is of the length of the infeeding opening33, and constructed preferably in the form of a helical or serpentinetwist about the axis of rotation of the feed worm and cross-sectionallylocated through- `out a portion of its length substantially at one sideof said axis in progressive cross-sectional planes of the feed worm, andhaving an orbit planetariwise about its axis of rotation.

This portion of the feed worm is preferably devoid of a central shaft.The body of this portion of the feed worm comprises cross-sectionallythe inner base or heel 18, from which a shank 8| projects outwardly atone side thereof, forming sides '82, 83, which converge toward the outerend of such cross-sectional part of the feed worm to provide a toe 84,preferably having an outer arcuate Vend concentric with the channelsector and provided with the knife edge 8U at its forward or advancingedge, the feed worm being exemplified as rotating in the direction ofthe arrow a. The side 82 of this body of the feed Worm forms apropelling or feeding side for the feed Worm and is of substantialwidth, extending into the crosssectional space usually occupied by theshaft of the feed-screw heretofore usually employed in machines of thischaracter, thereby providing a maximum width of feeding face rotatablein the feeding sector.

The knife edge 80 extends helically and concentrically about the axis ofrotation of the feed worm and coacts progressively with said ribs at theinfeeding sector lengthwise of the feed worm for cutting the meat intopieces, the ribs also retarding rotation of the meat with the feed worm,to advance the meat lengthwise of the feeding channel. The feed wormthroughout a substantial portion of the infeeding section thereof ispreferably, as hereinbefore described, of the same cross-sectional formthroughout succeeding crosssectional planes of the feed worm, beingsimilar to each other throughout a substantial portion of the length ofthe infeeding convolution of the feed worm. The cross-sectional form islsimilar throughout the balance of said infeeding convolution, althoughthe feed worm may increase'in cross-sectional area at the outfeeding endof said infeeding convolution. Dispensing with the usual central shaftfor the feed worm provides greater 4meat space in the channel forgreatly increasing the infeeding space between the feed worm and thewall of the channel sector and enables great width of feeding face to beemployed for advancing the meat along the channel for enhancing thequantity of meat being fed and the speed with which it is fed lengthwiseof the feeding channel.

The intermediate portion of the feed worm is located substantially inthe infeeding portion of the cross-sectionally closed tubular feed'-channel. The outfeeding portion ofthe infeeding section of the feed wormmerges with the infeeding portion of the intermediate section of thefeed worm. The cross-sectional area of the feed worm in thisintermediate section increases relatively to the cross-sectional area ofthe outfeeding end of the infeeding section of the feed worm, the teardrop cross-sectional form of the infeeding section of the feed wormbeing preferably continued, but cross-sectionally enlarged in theinfeeding portion of the intermediate section of the feed worm. Theconvolution of this intermediate section is preferably substantiallyshorter than the convolution of the infeeding section of the feed Worm,and has an outer marginal face 86 provided with a cutting edge 81,extending helically along said intermediate section, ksuch marginal facebeing a continuation of the arcuate end 85 and such cut- -ting edgebeing a continuation ofthe cutting edge 8ll.

The outfeeding section of the feed worm is provided with a series ofconvolutions, four of these being shown, which are successivelycontinuations of the convolution in the intermediate section of the feedworm, the body portions of said convolutions being of slightly greatercross-sectional area than the body portions of the outfeeding end of theintermediate convolution, and provided with a helical feeding chan-2in1-aces 'tion of the preceding intermediate sectionfor compressing..the meat and forcing itforward lengthwise'of the feeding channelintoncoaction -with the rotating knife structure 65 :andlthe perforatedknife plate68 for forcing thelmeat 'through the perforations and cuttingthe meat portions in the Vperforations -from'the body `of meat in thefeeding channel; rotation of @the -touching the meat, and the tubularhousing is of sufcient height above the'floor so that a usual wheeledmeat or material truck may be inserted therebelow for receiving thedischarging cut `meat or material. 25

Instancing the material as meat, this may be fed into the hopper inchunks, whence it vdescends by gravity into the feeding mouth andprojects therethrough into the infeeding sector of the feeding channeland into the progressively advancing space between the heel of theinfeeding section ofthe feed worm and the wall of the infeeding sector,whence it is drawn inwardly by the advancing infeeding side of thelinfeeding convolution of the feed worm and the `helical cutting edgealong the outer circumference of such infeeding section. The helicalcutting edge coacts with thewall of the infeding sector 'of the meatchannel for cutting the chunks of meat into smaller pieces and such`advancing infeeding side advances the samealong themeat channel bycoaction thereof with the ribs of the feed channel. The infeeding oradvancing face of such infeeding portion of the infeeding section of thefeed worm is of substantial width for supplying maximum amountv offeeding area cross-sectionallyvof the feed worm for such advancement ofthe material.

-Such coaction with the meat also `avoidsor minimizes undue upwardmovement ofthe cut meat in the infeeding section to prevent movement ofthe meat retractingly into the mouth and hopper and for insuring advancemovement of the meat lengthwise ofthe feeding sector into theintermediate section of the feed worm, which `is `surrounded by thetubular wall of the feeding channel, to insure' further advance movementof the cut meat into-said intermediate section and thence into thehelical channel ofthe outfeeding section of the feed worm to insurerapid and continuous advancement of the xneat without rotation in thetubular casing and with coaction of the knife edges throughout theirvarious helical contours with the ribs throughout the feeding channelfor further reducing the meat in the feeding channel by coaction betweensaid knife edges and said ribs.

Referring to Figs. 4, 6 and '7, an infeeding portion of the worm, in itscross-sectional planes, moves about the axis of rotation .r of the worm,the infeeding face 82 and the heel 18 moving planetariwise about saidaxis and about a central body of meat, indicated by the dotted circle 95in Fig. 4. The helical infeeding face 82 is of such form as to push themeat lengthwise of the worm toward the annularly closed portion :of the'feedingchannel, and,.aided bythe gravfity'of the? meat and by .themovement .of I.the heel' 18.aboutlthe central body 95 of meat,"whichhelps in anchoring the meat downwardly, pushes the meat downwardly intothe cross-sectional space 17 -ofgreater width than half of the di-.ameterof the lower sector of :the infeeding portion of the feedingchannel, the meat being also cut by the cutting edgeV of Ithe toeendpfthe feed-worm to reduce the meat andv aid in the ease ofitsimove'ment infeeding direction.

I My invention provides extremely Yefficient feeding` of the meat andits reduction into smaller particlesgand enhances-the feeding capacityand speed ofza machine of this character.

It is obvious that changes in structures, relations and. arrangementsof` parts from what is herein particular-ly shown and described may bemadev withoutdeparting from the spirit. ofmy vinvention or' vthe scopeof the accompanying claims.

' I claim:

1.'A feed worm for a grinder 'of the character described comprising aninfeeding portion which in cro-ss-sectional planes is formed as a heeland i 2. A combined feeding and cutting worm for a grinder of thecharacter described comprising a yhelical portion at its infeeding endwhich in its successive.-cross-sectional planes has an orbit spaced fromvits-axis lof rotation so as to :leave'a central body ofrnaterialsurrounding said axis during the cutting andv feedingoperation, andfurther comprisingv other helical portions toward itsoutfeeding1end,"which vin their successive cross-sectional planes arelocated in: said axis to incorporate .said

central body ofmaterial among other portions of said material.

3."In a grinder of the'character described, the combination .of ahousing in which there is a tubular feeding. channel for the material,said tubular feeding/channel provided with cutting ribs extendinglengthwise of said channel and being abbreviated at one side of one endthereof tofform an` elongated feeding opening into said channel, and afeed Worm in said feeding channel provided with an Yinfeedingconvolution having a pitch' of substantially the length of said feedingopening and located during a portion of its length 'substantially whollyat one'side of its axis of rotation throughout progressivecross-sectionalY portions of said feed worm, and throughout saidprogressive cross-sectional portions comprising a heel substantiallyspaced from said axis so as to` leave a central body of material in saidaxis, a cutting edge coacting with said cutting ribs and an intermediatefeeding side to move the balance of the material in said cross-sectionalplane downwardly about said central body.

4. A cutting feed worm for a grinder of the character described having ashaftless infeeding convolution which cross-sectionally throughoutprogressive cross-sectional planes consists of a heel at one side of theaxis of rotation of the feed worm, with which heel sides merge andextend outwardly to form a toe provided with a cutting edge, said heel,sides and toe being substantially spaced from said axis at said one sideso as to form a central core of the material at said axis surroundingsaid axis during the cutting and feeding operation.

5. In a grinder of the character described, the combination of a housingin which there is a tubular feeding channel abbreviated at one side ofone end thereof to form an elongated feeding opening into said channelopposite a tubular sector of said feeding channel, the inner face ofsaid feeding channel being provided with cutting ribs, and a feed wormin said feeding channel provided with an infeeding convolution having anouter peripheral cutting edge coacting with said cutting ribs and alaterally extending feeding face for the material being cut extendinginwardly of said cutting edge, said infeeding convolution havinga pitchof substantially the length of said feeding opening and located during aportion of its length substantially wholly at one side of its axis ofrotation throughout progressive cross-sectional portions of said feedworm to form an infeeding space thereat between said one side of saidvaxis of rotation and the wall of said tubular sector which crosses saidaxis of rotationand extends around said axis to form a central spacelengthwise of said axis to receive a central portion of the materialbeing fed and cut which is located in and around said axis to aid in thedownward movement of the material in said infeeding spacel by saidlaterally extending feeding face.

6. In a grinder of the character described, the combination of a housingin which `there is a tubular feeding channel abbreviated at one side ofone end thereof to form a feeding opening into said channel opposite atubular sector of said feeding channel, and a helical feed worm in saidfeeding channel having a cutting edge at its outer periphery andcomprising an infeeding portion at said feeding opening located whollyat one side of its axis of rotation and having an inner heel and anintermediate feeding face between said heel and said cutting edge allsubstantially spaced from said axis of rotation at said one sidethroughout successive cross-sectional planes to form a cross-sectionalfeeding space between said infeeding portion and said tubular .sectorwhich extends across said axis of rotation constructed to draw the meatbeing fed downwardly away from said feeding opening into saidcross-sectional feeding space and across said axis of rotation into saidtubular sector and to cut the meat so being fed by coaction between saidcutting edge and the wall of said tubular sector and to advance the cutmeat along said tubular sector and to feed it into and through thebalance of said tubular feeding channel.

7. In a grinder of the character described, the combination of a housingin which there is a tubular feeding channel abbreviated at one side ofone end thereof to form a feeding opening into said channel opposite acurved tubular sector of said feeding channel, and a helical feed wormin said feeding channel having an axis of rotation about which the Wallof said tubular sector is curved and comprising a shaftless infeedingportion cross-sectionally comprising a heel the sides of which extendoutwardly as a radial shank at one side of said heel terminating in anouter toe, and having a feeding space between the other side of saidheel and said curved Wall of said feeding sector extending across saidaxis of rotation-and encompassing said axis at all sides thereof,whereby to form a central body of the material being fed at andcompletely around said axis and extending to said curved tubular sectorof said feeding channel during the feeding and cutting operation of saidworm.

8. In combination, a housing having a tubular feed passage abbreviatedat one side of one end thereof to form a feed opening and the wall ofsaid feed passage being provided with inwardly presented ribs extendinglengthwise thereof, and a feed worm comprising a receiving section, anintermediate section and a delivering section, said sections havingconvolutions provided with a cutting edge at the outfeeding sides oftheir outer peripheries coacting with said ribs, said receiving sectionhaving an initial portion of smaller crossi section located wholly inits cross-sectional planes at one side of the axis of rotation of theWorm and spaced from said axis at said one side thereof to form a clearfeeding space extending across and about said axis to the wall of saidfeed passage to form a clear feeding space for the meat extending acrosssaid axis to receive chunks of meat between said initial portion andsaid Wall which are cut by said cutting edge into smaller pieces, and afollowing portion of gradually increasingly larger cross-sectionaldimensions located preponderantly at said one side of said axis tocontinue said feeding space and said cutting, the length of convolutionof said receiving section being substantially the same as the length ofsaid feed opening, said intermediate section having a convolution whichis of substantially less linear pitch than the pitch of the convolutionof said receiving section with which it merges to form a passage betweenit and said inner wall 5,0

which becomes gradually shallower toward the outfeeding end of saidintermediate section to continue the cutting of the meat and to feed itlengthwise of said tubular feed passage, and said delivering sectionhaving convolutions of less linear pitch with which said last-namedconvolution merges to continue the cutting and feeding of the meat.

OSCAR C. SCHMIDT.

